News

Mix: AT&T 3G, iPlayer, Survey, Speck discount

By Charles Starrett ● Wednesday, May 21, 2008

AT&T has announced that it will complete its rollout of High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA) technology in its current 3G markets by the end of June, and will use the technology in all future deployments as it expands its 3G coverage to more markets by the end of the year. HSUPA technology will offer users uplink speeds between 500 and 800 Kbps, complementing existing High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) technology, which offers download speeds of up to 1.4 Mbps. [via RedEye]

The BBC has revealed that its BBC iPlayer reached 1.4 million average weekly users in April, up from 1.1 million in March. Notably, three percent of those were iPhone or iPod touch users, suggesting that an average of 42,000 iPhone and iPod touch users accessed the site weekly in April. The service is limited to iPhone and iPod touch users based in the U.K.

A new survey by Rubicon Consulting shows that nearly half (47%) of iPhone users changed carriers in order to use the device, and on average pay $19 more per month for cellular service after the purchase of the iPhone. “The numbers are big enough that clearly this thing is profitable for AT&T,” Michael Mace, a principal at Rubicon, told the New York Times. “The big financial leverage is on the people who switch carriers. It’s not like you have to add new cell towers for them; they’re almost all profit. And those people are hard to come by, because you have to switch them off somebody else’s network.”

Speck Products is now offering all its first-generation iPhone accessories for 50% off. The discount includes the ToughSkin, SeeThru, Holster Pro, SkinPro, TransPort, ArmorSkin, Classic, and Runner cases. In addition, using the code “speck75” at checkout adds another 25% percent discount to the already half-off items. Offer end date unknown. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in.]